Evolutionary Astrology

thoughts on relocational astrology

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:33:06 GMT

a reply to a colleague's question about a reading she got that didn't turn out to help her (she found out after moving to another state!). thought it might be interesting to share with the community.

I haven't had a relocational reading, but I work with it frequently with myself and clients. When you view relocational work from an evolutionary perspective, saying a place is good for this (easier) or bad for that (harder) just doesn't fly, because you already know that in reality, labeling astro stuff good and bad gets you not very far.

How I work with it is that energies are emphasized in various places, yet your beliefs about and reactions to those energies in general will determine the quality of your experience in any given place. It all has to come back to the natal chart, in my mind, and what it has to say about karma/beliefs.

For example, you go to a relocational person with the question about how to get serious about developing or getting recognition for your work. She tells you that your Saturn/MC line goes right through Denver, and therefore Denver would be good for your work to get notice, even if it takes a few years to make it happen because Saturn stuff is slow, etc.

But if something wrapped up in your karmic baggage has to do with the Saturn archetype, Denver will actually serve to bring all that up before you get the kind of great benefit she expected you'd get by living there. If you've got stuff about an energy/archetype to work through/heal, moving to a place where it's emphasized by a power line will make it more than apparent. You will simply not be able to continue avoiding it. And you choices in how you respond to it will determine your experience of Denver. Do you meet the challenge and choose to grow?, etc.
In this case, Saturn in hard aspect to Pluto, or square the nodes or on the North Node, etc. would among other things fit the bill. On paper, that kind of relocational advice works, or perhaps it just tells you what you want to hear (that moving to place will give me a benefit - that I can just receive something good without work? I don't know), yet from the perspective of how people actually experience life, which is what this EA stuff is all about, that's not enough.

Diana's story of her son strikes me as a best-case scenario. Undoubtedly, it was time for him to move to such a Mercury line (& whatever other lines were emphasized). And if his chart indicates the power lines at play representing energies that from the karmic standpoint need to be re-met, healed, or re-imagined, then he responded to the opportunities in a wonderful way - best-case scenario.

I can share two stories about my experiences moving to power-line places, as long as it's late and I'm full of chocolate and a romance with typing. I picked the nearest/major influence in each place.

1. Moving from (birthplace) Ohio to Boston in 1996, I shifted my 1st house Libran Uranus 8 degrees from the ASC to smack on the ASC. My Uranian self became extremely loud on several fronts, including both wonderful and silly expressions. Including Surrealist/Dadaist creative writing & unapologetic public reading of it (Aquarius on the cusp of the 5th), using pen names to play with the very notion of identity, and learning to break free of various kinds of limitations I'd all my life accepted, including timely ones from family (Uranus in the 1st is square the Cancer South Node).

2. Moving from Boston to Los Angeles in 2003, I moved Mercury-Moon in Sagittarius straddling the cusp of the 3rd house natally to straddling the IC. If I'd had a regular relocational reading, I may have been told something about LA being a great place for me to start a family, or to have a happy home, or good for real estate, etc. When I got here, I began confronting all the lunar stuff I'd been putting off healing, including lifelong parental relationship issues. Essentially, I had to make peace with coming from the people I come from, juicy 4th house stuff. But I didn't want to do it. It mean getting to know myself on the inside, what makes me tick, what I really am about and making peace with all of it. It was at times excruciating (and I attempted to move away twice!), but it's just what I needed.

Both of these energies bring my nodal story into play, Uranus natally squares the Cancer SN, and Moon rules it. Especially in LA, as it's been 5+ years of really getting to know myself, and my NN is in the 4th, wouldn't you know.

Anything a relocational astrologer without an understanding of evolutionary principles would have said to me about moving to LA would have ended up somewhere between widely missing the mark and utter bunk. When more folks catch on to the idea that we're imprinted by past-life experience/karma, relocational work will get much more relevant to everyone. I think that approaching relocational work from the standpoint of places presenting us opportunities for growth and choices to change, it can support people in useful ways.

Best,
Tom
http://tdjacobs.com

"Unraveling Karma" podcast episode 2

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:27:42 GMT

Available here:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=292700813

Two charts: Felicia asks about her strange effect on male mentors and if it's related to Lilith, and I comment on M.'s chart, a friend who has worked to make different decisions in her life, essentially unraveling some of her karma.

Enjoy!

new astro-advice podcast, new article on Lilith

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:49:18 GMT

1. Episode 1 of my "Unraveling Karma" podcast here:
http://tdjacobs.com/articles.html, halfway down the page.
I answer listener questions from the evolutionary astrology perspective. This episode has a series intro, and works with two people's charts. Future episodes will answer three or so listener questions, and be around 20 minute in length.

I'm close to getting it RSSed/to directories (I'm insisting on doing the RSS myself and with transiting Saturn squaring to my Moon-Mercury in Sagittarius, am having some fun navigating technical speedbumps that have everything to do with the fact that my brain simply doesn't want to work this week, and I keep asking it to), but wanted to let you guys know about it.
Send questions for future episodes to karma@tdjacobs.com - if there are a lot of them, I'll pick questions to answer randomly.

2. Lilith article here:
http://thecosmicpath.com, scroll down below the daily forecast and look for the link to the "Living Myth" column.
It's the first in a series looking into aspects of how we live Lilith's myth in our own lives.
This one is about Lilith's rage, and what we can do about it.

Enjoy!

xposted...

Activity in this forum

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:02:18 GMT

Hey there,

If you're reading this, perhaps you've just joined. I am alive and well and a professional astrologer, but alas, I could not keep pumping up this community and much of the LJ astrological community interacts over at astrology, so I hang out there a lot. Please feel free to read our brief archive of entries and ask questions here though, as it's still watched and I answer questions here!

--Sincerely, the moderator (prophetessamy)

daily degree symbols project

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:32:26 GMT

hello everyone,

i started a daily degree symbols project a couple months ago in an older journal that i repurposed for this use, aspetta. i originally invited friends of my personal journal to join in the project either as onlookers or casual commentators, but i realized today that i might have much richer participation if i sent the invite out to astrology communities. so, i hope that this isn't inappropriate or against community rules, but some people here with a little bit more advanced interest in the degrees of the zodiac might be interested in lurking or taking part.

here's my unlocked journal entry where i discuss what the degree symbols project is and what i (at least at the time) intended to do with it.

basically i'm working with sabian, kozminksy, sepharial and charubel symbols.
i'm trying to do these everyday, but sometimes (as most of this month's sun transit through gemini will attest), life gets in the way and i might miss some days.

anyone who wants to join and participate please take a gander and add the journal aspetta to your f-list. i'll most welcome any insights, comments, etc anyone has about the symbols, the project, or things astro-related.

pluto in capricorn & its retro

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:51:38 GMT

what's been going on for you with pluto in capricorn? it entered capricorn in january after 13 years in sagittarius.

the basic theme of the energy is turning over/inside out existing structures so new things can take root. it involves digging under the surface and the layers underneath being revealed. it's also about connecting with deeper layers of our desires (pluto), and growing up some to work to make things be the way we'd like them to be, ways they'll work better because they're more in line with our deepest sense of ourselves.

for me, one thing has been a lot of truth (pluto) about family members' histories (capricorn): their secrets get revealed after they pass away. these are folks i never trusted so i wasn't so surprised that they'd lie so much (or maybe i'm just jaded when it comes to family?), but other family members have been devastated by learning these truths. pretty intense. my mom, sister and cousin are reeling and trying to recover from the surprises.

what about you? what's going on?

and then the retro (april 2nd for 5 months) gives the chance to check our motivations and efforts. we can come to understand what's been happening the last seven months that pluto's been direct, as the focus of pluto energy gets turned inward and we can see and feel things a little differently.

i've got an article on http://thecosmicpath.com that discusses some of this stuff, too - look for the "pluto in capricorn" link on the front page.

podcast interview on new archetype

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:51:13 GMT

Evolutionary astrologer Dena DeCastro's site now offers a podcast of Dena interviewing me about Arjunsuri, asteroid 20300. We talk about the archetype, my work as an intuitive and how it informs my readings, and my perspective on using asteroids and other small bodies and points in chart analysis.

It's the first word out there on this archetype about relating to one's inner knowing, that I've been using in my work for a few years. I hope you find it interesting!

The link to Dena's site's podcast area:
http://www.denadecastro.com/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

Alternately, you can listen/subscribe through iTunes:

1) Click on http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=255092499
2) Press the subscribe button

Upcoming astrology teleclasses

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:17:17 GMT

1. Introducing my approach to holistic health using astrology, Saturday July 28th, 11 AM Pacific, $10. Health, or wholeness, depends on expression of all of our energies. I'll discuss each archetype, the kinds of expression it requires and how blocks in any area can affect the whole being, enabling you to understand how to shift things in your life to move more towards wholeness on the physical, emotional and psychological levels. The traditional mechanistic, Newtonian view of health (we are machines) doesn't work any longer. It's time to get real about what healing and health means.

2. Pluto & Chiron & Health Through the Archetypes, Saturday, August 4th, 11 AM Pacific, $10. Building on the introduction the previous week, I'll work with the two markers of wounding in the chart, Pluto and Chiron. We'll walk through the archetypes to understand the two kinds of wounding in each, as well as basic strategies for working with healing energies related to each in all twelve archetypes.

Full details for each can be found at http://www.tdjacobs.com.

xposted to astrology

event specifics vs evolutionary opportunity

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:07:25 GMT

Adapted from an article in progress:

I.
As astrology is a symbolic language, the specifics of an event are less important than what's gained from the experience of living through the event.

For example, transiting Uranus squaring natal Moon will not necessarily manifest as any one of the following (typically expected events from this transit), though could:
Change of residence or sudden change to existing residence
Radical alteration of diet
Alienation of or from mother specifically or women in general
Shock to the emotions
Etc.

The point of this transit is to shake up (Uranus) in what one finds security (Moon), and that can be accomplished in a myriad of ways.

II.
Another side of this would be to look at what kind of work is on your soul's syllabus (the foundation of evolutionary astrology being that we're here to go through experience, with the life map readable in the chart) at any given time. I tend to use the example of something very unpleasant, because those are the events for which people seem to be looking for scientific correlation in their search to prove things about astrology.

One example is the death of a parent. We can go through the charts and find "reasons" this happened to that parent or to you, but the fact is that you'll find lots of different significators between many sets of charts (if you look at many). It's not always a Pluto opposition to Moon or Sun (or Saturn), and not always Jupiter hitting the MC or IC, etc. - not always any particular thing.

So, it could have many signficators, but the point from the evolutionary perspective will be about what opportunity related to your own journey opens to you because of that death. If you have Moon (including Cancer/4th house) work on your syllabus (either natally or by transit/progression/arc), the death of a parent could be about learning more about what makes you feel secure. If you have Mars (including Aries/1st house) work to do, it could be about learning to be more assertive, either in dealing with the death or being out from under the parental shadow. If you have Mercury work, it could be about learning to speak your feelings (Gemini), or perhaps about taking more responsibility for yourself, your family, or your own health (Virgo).

chiron

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:47:39 GMT

I did a lot of reading about the Chiron myth yesterday. Mostly so I could sort of form my own opinion about what I think Chiron's about. I need to also do some reading up on current events around 77/78 to complete the story, and I need more info on the last part of the story when he gives up his immmortality to go down to hell in place of Prometheus. I wrote down many things that I thought were pertinent symbols about Chiron. They're not in front of me at the moment, but I'll have to put them all down here soon. Here's some that come to mind:
"wounded healer," blah blah blah. sure, but I think there's more than that. For instance, I'm particularly interested about how he gave up his immortality, because one could see that as a selfless sacrifice, but it wasn't, in my mind. I mean, his immortality became a problem for him, it became the reason he couldn't heal or die - the reason he was 'stuck', and I think his sacrifice was less a kind gesture and more relief. Interesting. I also think it's interesting how it was mentioned that he was abandoned by his mother, born with a sense of shame and disgust upon him when his mother looked at him - and born out of rape, although some stories say they were 'in love'. Many people refer to this as his 'first wound', and I'm of two minds about that. That kind of thing leaves a mark upon anyone, even if they were immediately adopted and loved (like he was by Apollo, if I remember correctly). At the same time, it's not like he loved a miserable life alone and abandoned. What else do I remember ... My impression was that he became a healer sort of by accident - he was a good teacher, very cultured and intelligent and skilled, but the literal healer part came from his own search for something to heal him. I think this is fine, though, it seems that this often happens - your 'great work' sort of just 'happens' to you in a sense. But he was obsessed with healing himself, it's not like he started out on a quest to serve all those that were sick. He was obsessed with the pain of his wound so that all he did was search for a cure, and it was through his seeking that he gained all this knowledge to help others, which he did, and that's important. Then there's the duality idea - man and beast, logic and instinct that I also think is pertinent. Interesting, but potentially not pertinent enough to figure into the astrological story with so much already crowding it: his friend hurt him and his friend (Heracles/Hercules) brought about the solution for the end to his pain. Now, the hurt was accidental, which I DO think is pertinent - like the 'wound' you may exeprience represented by Chiron may be accompanied by a sense of helplessness, like it just happened to you. Interestingly though, in some versions, Chiron did it to himself. Either way though, it was an accident. So I haven't put all this together yet, my research isn't finished, but I'm starting to be re-confused about the difference between Chiron and Pluto in Steven's evolutionary astrology perspective. I once heard him talk about it being like Pluto is a deep psychologically oriented soul wound and chiron is like a flesh wound - gotta just get over it or you can't give your gift to the world. I can see that, but at the same time, I don't know. The Chiron myth is sometimes leading me down the road that I go with Pluto, and so I'm all confoozled about that right now. Like I say though, research not finished. thoughts, astrologer friends?

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 06:47:54 GMT

So, lots of things, lots of things and I'm calming my brain down by thinking about astrology rather than everything else that's going on.

A while back when thinking about Pluto's future entry into Capricorn and the squares this would make to Z's Aries Moon-Chiron conjunction in the 12th house (as well as squaring its own natal place and opposing Saturn) one of the things I considered was whether this would be connected to some kind of illness with his mother. Then when we found out at the beginning of September that she had lung cancer (initially thought to be an early stage tumour) I began thinking again that in some way the future transits of Pluto would perhaps be a reflection of her illness. Therefore I was just as shocked as everyone else when she died just a week later. (The most active transits I can spot in his mom's chart at the time are transiting Jupiter's exact conjunction with natal Mars, and trines from progressed Moon and Mars to natal Chiron - both of which relate to the fact that her death was very peaceful - she simply fell asleep). The most active transits going through Z's chart at the time were as far as I can see Progressed Moon conjunct natal South Node, transiting Pluto trine natal Mars and transiting Chiron crossing the MC.

Chiron in particular I can see as being very significant (I don't have enough experience yet to really comment on the transit to the nodes but I welcome the evolutionary astro perspective on this) since the transit has been related to Z getting his British citizenship and passport (changing very much his standing in the world) and allowing him to go back to his home to be at his mother's funarel and visit his father's grave (he had died ten years before).

Also, now that he's got his passport we're getting legally hitched (which we didn't do when we had our wedding back in May since the right paperwork didn't come through on time). Nothing spectacular - just signing the right pieces of paper with our witnesses and heading out for a nice lunch somewhere, but it's really making me think about the astrology of it all.

FOr instance - which is the more accurate wedding chart- the one for 20th of May when we had our party and ceremony, or the one we will do in the next few months in which the emotional agreement we made back then becomes legally binding? Does the second wedding chart replace the first, the way a nation's natal chart changes through its incarnations with different borders/consitutions and so on?

Also, on that note - what are your thoughts on the upcoming stellium in Scorpio?

In the UK one has to make an appointment for 'giving notice of marriage' in which you and your intended show up with documents demonstrating your proof of identity and address and so on, and the marriage license takes 15 days to come through so you can get married from the 16th day onwards.

We haven't set a date or anything but one of the possibilities is November the 4th when the stellium in Scorpio will still be going strong.

My CHart

Z's Chart

The Composite

The transiting Scorpio Stellium for that day will be landing in my 3rd house and Z's 6th; transiting Saturn at 24 Leo will be square my Moon Uranus conjunction and Z's natal Mercury; it will also be square the transiting Jupiter-Mercury conjunction in Scorpio.

The transits read as follows Sun 11 Scorpio, Moon 19 Aries, Mercury 22 Scorpio, Venus 13 Scorpio, Mars 7 Scorpio, Jupiter 25 Scorpio, Saturn 24 Leo, Uranus 10 Pisces, Neptune 17 Aquarius, Pluto 25 Sagittarius.

Finally, what do you think are auspicious marriage aspects? Aspects to be avoided? Is there a point in planning an 'astrologically auspicious'date or just setting a date randomly and letting the astrology be a serendipitous reflection?

I'm very curious as I don't know much about this, and interested in your thoughts.

Thanks

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:23:47 GMT

Do you think astrologers who are parents have an advantage in understanding and raising their children? Or do you think we run a greater risk of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy?

(I suppose you could ask the same about psychologists, etc, but I pose the question all the same.)

readings

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 14:29:14 GMT

Who here has had a reading by an evolutionary astrologer and if you have, was it different or better than any other readings you'd had or better than you had expected...?

objectivity

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 20:06:17 GMT

there's a list of recurring questions asked in astrology circles populated by people learning the subject, mostly on the level of what planet x means in sign y or house z. while the internet is a great tool, etc., there often bubbles up all over it a stereotype free-for-all where there's no or little leadership or guidance to raise the level of dialogue to astrology-as-healing-art/science, which is where my interests lie. so, here we are.

each of those questions reflects the misguided assumption that astrology is about delivering objective information, and i'd like to tease this out for a bit.

to begin with, yes, astrology is a science. it's the science of light, how we embody and are affected by light. yes, there's a lot of math involved (though these days we don't often have to construct charts and all that, so are somewhat removed from the importance of that math).

when it comes down to it, though, there are an many interpretations as there are interpreters. it's an interpretive art...an interpretive art based in science. this goes against the way we are conditioned to think, as our saturnian social control mechanism has or would have us requiring that a subject be either art or science, and we can be lead to assume there can be no middle ground.

the truth of it is that in order for astrology to be useful to anyone, a person has to decide what she wants astrology to do. i mean that a person has to in effect choose a philosophical position and work outward from it.

the thinking we do in evolutionary astrology is about exploring what planets in signs are doing, and not retrieving a stock interpretation and offering it because it's worked before. in this work, the planets are functions (the whats), the signs the methods (the hows and whys) and the houses the arenas of life stimulated (the wheres). working this way around the chart, it becomes clear that each person is unique, a tenet easily forgotten when speaking the language of astrology in a traditional way.

which stands out as an important point: if you tell someone that his jupiter in aries means something specific, what are you really telling him? you'd probably think you're helping him by giving him an interpretation, but what is actually being done is the making of a little box and stuffing jupiter in aries, a function of the person and its mode, in it. that doesn't help a person do anything but feel stuffed into a little box.

so, each of us has to pick a stance and work from there. if we could each be clear on that, questions like, "what does venus in capricorn mean?" from students could be met with answers that help them broaden their view. but that tells you about my philosophical position: astrology is a tool we can use to broaden our minds, being an art and science together.

the way in the old days to become a jyotishi, a practitioner of the indian astrology, jyotish (literally, "science of light"), was to apprentice to a jyotishi. the training involved spending at least a few years training to be what is basically a human computer, memorizing list after list of data: as many of the planetary combinations as possible, the lists and rules of rulership, the friend groups, the cycles and periods of the moon, the cycles of the great ages, the nakshatras (lunar mansions) and everything associated with them (rulers, elements, mythology, etc.), the planetary correlations between jyotish, palmistry and ayurveda - a great many things needed to be learned along intellectual lines before a student was given the priviledge of reading a person's chart.*

the point is that astrology in that part of the world grew up with people who understood the interface of the science with the art. perhaps not many jyotishis would allow that what they do involves art, but when they work with their right brains and get to the info that's trying to come through from the contradictory elements, that jyotishi's being creative and is accessing the side of the work that's art.

in that system there is an answer to the question, "what does jupiter in aries mean?" but that system recognizes that it takes a lot more than one datum to give an adequate answer. in tropical astrology, however, there is no one answer, and a lot of seem to get lost in thinking that these little bits of data are the meat and potatoes of the work. since we've taken the psychological approach and have placed a tremendous value on uniqueness, our interpretations are, as mentioned above, as numerous and varied as there are interpreters.

i find the evolutionary astrology ideas named above the most useful, which is why i practice that kind of astrology. i decided that i wanted astrology to be about more than just this life, to be entirely anti-robotic, to treat people as complex and with as much dignity as they deserve, to be unfocused on whining while focused on healing and growth. and when i found evolutionary astrology, i knew i'd found something i could support.

so if you ask me what jupiter in aries means, i'll probably ask you for your birth data and work up to it from the nodes and pluto - my personal bias. just be aware that when you ask what a planet in a sign or house means, you're getting either textbook regurgitate or a creative answer that's trying to treat you as complex as you are.

*when it was time to advance to that level, then, the student was taught how to access the right information from the data stores in the mind using intuition. many of the principles can be found to be contradictory, and a jyotishi must rely on the intuition, guided by a selected deity.

the transiting lunar nodes enter virgo-pisces

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 18:20:55 GMT

i wrote this this morning and thought it might be useful to share.
xposted to my journal

i'm pretty excited about the summer solstice, but i'm even more excited about the transiting lunar nodes' position. i'm not wound up because the transiting north node is on the aries point (0 degrees of aries), like i suppose some other nerd astrologers might be. what i'm wound up about with the nodes is that after the aries point, the transiting north node enters pisces.

but first, some notes on the transiting nodes:
premise: the transiting south node pushes buttons while the transiting north node can show a way to move energy/resolve stuff that's been stirred up.
1) we collectively experience the sign the south node transits and then have our individual experience based on the natal house it's transiting and any natal placements that are triggered.
2) but wait! it turns out that the house and sign the south node is transiting is only an apparent issue. the real issue is to be found in the natal placement & configuration of the ruler of the transiting south node.
3) the natal placement/configuration of the ruler of the transiting north node can offer info on how to move ahead with (= integrate) what's been stirred up.
(see http://www.ulrichbold.com/transiting_nodes.htm for a lengthier explanation.)

for a year and a half, the transiting south node has been in libra and the transiting north node in aries. generally speaking, what we've been learning about centers on boundaries and definition of self. as one of the six sign axes, the aries-libra pole is at root about acting vs reacting, initiating vs responding - and at the most basic level, self vs other.

the transiting south node has for all of us been stirring up issues in relationship - for each of us, our natal venus configuration has been the center of attention...whether we've been aware of it or not. and for the folks with uranus and pluto in libra (1968-1975 and 1970-1984, respectively), issues related to fear and trauma in relationship have had a certain kind of light shed on them, possibly via the ripping or melting away of long-held assumptions about relationships, and i probably really mean to say the ripping or melting away of long-held patterns of projection and co-dependency in relationship.

the transiting north node in aries, then, has been dangling in front of all of our noses some appetizing, new ideas. some ideas we might not have thought of before, or thought of in quite our normal ways. everything that has been stirred up venus-wise for you has an antidote, a solution, in new ways of doing mars things. had enough of co-dependent patterns? strike out on your own, ask for new kinds of relationships. tired of feeling walked all over? stand up for yourself and make a statement about who you are what you're available for in the relationship department. but to be sure, none of this wonderful-sounding mars work can come without a bit of effort. and mars work is about acting on instinct and taking steps that feel right. there's no deliberation, no weighing, no mental work that can be done. mars work is fire work, work about the generation of moments and experiences...so for those of us who find themselves ever choosing our way with the utmost care (the libra way and possibly blind spot), this mars work might be a touch uncomfortable. but the point of the opportunities the transiting lunar north node offers is about reaching beyond our comfort zones; risk that honors instinct is precisely where the growth is to be found with the transiting north node in aries.

you might be asking why i'm writing about this now that the transiting nodes are in the last degrees of aries-libra. the suave answer would be that i want to point out some things so that as we make this transition over the next few days, you might think back on the last year and a half and have a chance to integrate some major or major-seeming experiences that can help you wrap up that chapter. the real answer would be that for a year and a half, i've been in aries-libra bootcamp and haven't had enough perspective to make a sounds that resemble words in english. (i have a number of placements in libra, spanning 3-25 degrees, including pluto, venus, pallas, ascendant, mars and uranus, and i have had numerous learning opportunities i can now understand as blessing-filled opportunities, but in the moment...)

back to today: when the nodes shift signs to virgo-pisces, the apparent and real issues change considerably. not just in the fact of changing signs, but the change of signs from cardinal (aries-libra) to mutable (virgo-pisces). this change takes us from the urge to action to the necessity of flexibility. there's a relaxing that goes with such a shift, if we're open enough to listen to the opportunities presented by the moment.

so, the focus leaves venus assumptions/blind spots/issues being resolvable by a little risky mars work, and soon begins to center on mercury (the ruler of virgo, the transiting south node sign) assumptions/blind spots/issues resolvable by a little risky neptune (the ruler of pisces, the transiting north node sign) work.

a few notes on the virgo-pisces pole are in order. this axis is about work, service, healing and control. in these areas, virgo takes the active stance and pisces the passive stance. each wants to contribute to something larger, virgo on the micro scale and pisces on the macro scale. each is oriented toward perfection: virgo takes things apart and does detail work in order to improve the whole from the micro level (fixing), and pisces opens to accept that things are perfect the way they are (accepting).

the transiting south node entering the sign of virgo will bring up our issues with control (where we feel we need to have it), our feelings of inadequacy (with an eye on what it would take to reach perfection, virgo is acutely aware of what isn't currently perfect), and where we tend to take responsibility (or too much of it) for serving/working for and healing others (virgo can see the paths to progress and healing and sometimes can't let go). (all of this needs to be considered in terms of your natal virgo-mercury configurations.) the bit of risky neptune work we'll be invited to do is then about releasing some of our need for control, and accepting that certain things are the way they are. this is absolutely not about throwing arms up in the air and the cessation of caring, but about the acceptance that some things are out of our control and are right up the alley of some other party that can take care of things (even or especially if this other party is to-you invisible and sometimes goes by names like god, goddess, the universe, the shiny and magnificent whole of everything, etc.).

for those of you with pluto in virgo natally (most of those born between 1956-1971), you'll be invited to look at your deepest soul desires and fears, and if you're listening through what might turn out to be difficult to experience, you'll get clues about healing them. i say this because as the transiting south node pushes your pluto buttons, the transiting north node will be highlighting what is known as your pluto polarity point, the point in the chart wheel exactly opposite your natal pluto, 180 degrees away. this is an idea i take from the work of jeffrey wolf green. he's saying that if you come in with natal pluto in virgo, you've got pluto-in-virgo soul desires and soul fears. pluto in virgo is the reality of the karmic signature you're carrying with you, but since pluto typically operates on the unconscious level, you're probably not seeing much about it. he says that in order to get perspective on that placement, you need to understand the opposite; do something in the opposite direction in order to develop a richer understanding of where you are. makes sense, right? if you're stuck where you are, do the opposite until you're not stuck. for the pluto-in-virgo person, the answers about how to move ahead with healing the pluto soul wounds and manifesting the pluto soul desires are to be found in an exploration of pisces.

for any of us, the pluto polarity point is an important point to explore. but the reason i'm so excited about the transiting lunar nodes in general is that (i know i'm repeating this, but i'm THAT excited) when someone's pluto is hit by the transiting south node, the polarity point is to some degree lit up by flashing neon arrows...if only we're willing to peer around some unfamiliar corners, we can see them.

i suppose you're seeing my natural bias come out; i'm fascinated by pluto work. specifically the kind of work described by steven forrest and jeffrey wolf green. i've been in steven's apprenticeship program for a couple of years, and his work was the first work that spoke truth to me about the potential of the language of astrology to be used to help heal people, while treating them with the dignity and respect that i feel we deserve. but it was before i began in steven's program that i read green's first pluto book, when i knew i would be attending and was very excited. at the beginning of green's chapter on pluto in libra or the 12th house, astrology suddenly got personal. it got real. i was pretty sure green had been spying me my entire life and had written that chapter to shake me out of myself. and since having that feeling and beginning my own pluto work, i've been increasingly committed to helping people deal with their own pluto work. (my pluto in libra in the 12th house has the polarity point of aries/6th house, which seems to me about initiating service & healing in order to really be able to draw on the big-picture sensibility and sensitivity underneath the opening-to-relationship fears of that pluto.)

a few months ago in a meditation, i invited hordes of pluto-in-virgo natives to come in for readings once the transiting nodes shifted from aries-libra to virgo-pisces. the point isn't that i'm saving up for a speedboat or african safari, or whatever astrologers save up for these days, but that i have this enormous/gigantic excitement about the idea of helping any pluto-in-virgo person who wants or needs perspective on this transit. these people are coming with deep wounds about service, but with the deepest desires to serve. and those with uranus conjunct pluto in virgo (those born roughly from 1962-1968), the pluto desire is on some level related to social revolution and radical change, upgrading what doesn't work for all of us, and the pluto fear is on some level related to having had the crap beat out of them in the karmic past for having done something about it. i have a deep desire to help anyone who wants to get clear on healing the karmic wounds in order to get closer to maximizing work on bringing out the karmic desires. though i should say bringing forth those karmic desires, since we need as many as can to bring forth their passions and contribute to change how things are working around here these days.

it's that libra stellium in the 12th-1st, i guess: i won't feel rested in work that doesn't strengthen us as a team.

thoughts

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 18:41:42 GMT

i'm thinking about why the evolutionary approach is so hard sometimes for a lot of people to take, and why it often isn't but is just not grasped.
it brings me to the conditioning of the cultures.
i'm watching the entirely gigantic saturnian machine gummed over the faces and hearts of people everywhere, and am in deep desire to shake each person by the lapels and do whatever i can to help them wake up.
it's hard to take because it's so foreign to how we're trained and encouraged to think. i'm reminded of all the folks i know with saturn-chiron in pisces opposing pluto-uranus in virgo. a lot of those i know with this are doing what they can to bring ancient teachings out of the fog of forgetfulness. they inspire me to focus on the goal...whatever goal, whatever it is. seeing people compelled to change things...i guess i should note that i know a lot of them with these bodies in the 3rd-9th axis.

i've been rereading jeff green's first pluto book, which includes material on the evolutionary states of souls. my opinion is that this is extremely valuable when dealing with clients, so that you know "where that person is" in their journey, but never should be discussed with clients. i can't tell if the people using it in their practices are keeping a veil on it or not, but it definitely can confuse things.

i've been working slowly on a few astrological topics:
-dynamics stirred & opportunities offered by the transiting lunar nodes through houses
-the relationship between fear and desire
-the desire to believe (we hoodwink ourselves when we reaaaaallly want something to be true that isn't)

this looks like a personal LJ post, but i thought i'd see if any conversation wanted to get started on anything, anything at all in EA.

Transits of Pluto - Knock, knock! Who's there? Lord of the Dead

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:10:59 GMT

Hello All,

I went to an astrology seminar yesterday all about the upcoming (Jan 26 2008) entry of Pluto into Capricorn. It wasn't a gloom and doom thing at all, mostly just looking at some of the things it might mean (e.g. moving on from the fiery ideas and beliefs crisis of Pluto's transit through Sag) into embodying in form the ideas we are left with, for better or for worse (and that in preparation for that we should exercise awareness of our thoughts and feelings and be aware of what is coming up in us so that we can own it individually as opposed to experience it as a sudden eruption of something from the collective).

We looked at the historical events associated with Pluto's transit through Capricorn (the rise and fall of British, Chinese and Ottoman Empires), although as Liz Greene says it's not about the wars, it's about the particular reasons for those wars.

There was some discussion about the mentality of empire, how those that are making the empire believe they are doing so out of some good purpose (e.g. the Capricornian British bringing law to those chaotic Indians) or some divine right (religion, or the divine right of kings), in order to make the world a more orderly place (which is Capricorn's way after all).

We looked at some national charts (UK and America) who will both experience major Pluto transits (it will oppose America's Sun, and conjunct the Sun of the British) and looked at some of the ways that it might kick awake national identity and feeling.

And then we started looking at individual charts and upcoming Pluto transits. I realised that Pluto in Capricorn will square my Mars in Libra and then square my natal Pluto and saw how already I am seeing some shifts in my attitudes and feelings, particularly around my work. For instance my Libran ideals of fairness and equality and leaning towards liberal policies and generous welfare provision are having a serious clash with my growing cynicism and realisation that some of those things just aren't working and that some of my ideals might need to be compromised in the creation of the most workable reality.

As I thought about all that I realised that Pluto in Capricorn will square Z's Moon, Mars and Chiron in Aries (it will also oppose his natal Saturn and square his natal Pluto, but the square to the natal planets jumped out at me).

I was pondering this, thinking of what it might mean for him and ways Pluto might hit. Since the squares describe a clash of inimicable energies and that Moon & Mars are both associated with the physical body and that I am a freak with anxieties, I started to put pieces together and see a possible scenario where Plutonian transits might coincide with a period of physical illness & incapacity. I was talking to Z about this, advising him about stopping smoking now please thank you, and discussing in general terms what transits of Pluto might mean. Mostly I was thinking along the lines of feelings of entrapment and challenges to feelings of emotional/physical strength and potency (since a way of getting to Aries Moon and Mars is to compromise their energy and drive).

I don't think you can predict these things accurately or somehow *outwit Pluto* and I know that a heavy transit doesn't have to be heavy all the time and that it can manifest in a lot more ways than physical illness (I could have an affair for instance, I'm sure that would kick his Moon in the gut just as much).

Can anyone here give me more ideas of what Pluto square natal Mars and Moon-Chiron conjunction in Aries might mean, or ways it might show its nose? What is the experience there to teach?

Also have any of you experienced major transits of Pluto to natal planets (particularly squares to Sun/Mars/Moon)? And if so can you share what kind of events happened or what sort of feelings/experiences you had during this period?

I was looking at my own chart and at Pluto's transits to the Moon. It exactly conjuncted my natal Moon in 1991-1992 coinciding with my leaving Yugoslavia and the beginning of the war in the Balkans and it moved out of orb in 1995 coinciding with the end of the war. It was a very difficult, very dark time of my life when I was suffering with displacement, loss and serious depression (it wasn't my mother who died, but it was my motherland).

Since then I've had a Moon-Pluto conjunction by progression - which coincided with the start of my current relationship. And although it's been a very positive and rewarding event I remember at the beginning struggling with some deep trust issues (although trusting him enough to hang in there and tell him some of my deep secret stuff was as healing as it was scary.

So I know all about positive transformation, but having the Lord of the Dead over for coffee and cake is never going to be a pleasant experience. Heh.

Anyone have thoughts/expereinces about any of this they'd like to share?

Evolutionary Astrology Reading Special

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 17:33:24 GMT

Hi all,

Don't mean this to be in poor taste. Just wanted to let you all know as gently as I possible can that I'm having an end of the year special.

Just in time for Halloween - a new article

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 23:11:26 GMT

I put up a new article on my website called Our Biggest Fears. It's about what every sign fears the most, and I'd recommend reading your sun sign, your moon sign, and even your pluto sign.
It's here if anyone is interested.

evolutionarily speaking...

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 17:42:04 GMT

Do you think the combination of aspects in a chart, before looking at the chart elements themselves, gives a lot of information about that individual? For example, I am very heavy on squares (14) and conjunctions (11) with other apsects far, far less represented. Does this shed light on the personality of the chart or the flavor of life's journey (if you will) before the placements and signs are even taken into account? I usually look at each aspect individually, but I rather have the feeling that I'm missing out on information...

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 23:15:12 GMT

Assuming that the people in this community are passionate about astrology I have a question maybe, or maybe it's just an experience I have to share (learning to navigate my 11th house).

How do you avoid not driving people nuts! What I mean by that is, for me, when I'm looking at a chart, or configuration and understanding breaks through I want to share it with someone (Mercury and Uranus on the ASC & Sun conjunct Venus and Mars in the first house trine Jupiter in the 5th). It's just so exciting for me I have trouble containing it :)

I joined the astrology association here and so far there has only been one meeting, so unfortunately I haven't really built any relationships there yet. So I am driving my family crazy because there is so much energy behind my discoveries and they don't really care to get it. I'd love to be able to explain my 13 year old daughter's natal chart to her, but I'm not sure how to do that without really freaking her out haha. Today for example her 10th house Scorpio Pluto conjunct the MC jumped out at me when I realized that her reputation (quite an issue ATM) is quite Plutonian, and according to the school is not contained in her personal sphere, but actually becoming a 10th house MC community issue! Not real easy to be her mom right now BTW. From an evolutionary perspective I can see the potential she has, my god I hope she takes the high road. I'm rambling off topic a bit, I told you I was excited ;)

Really though, do you find it difficult to contain your passion when it comes to understanding astrology? Do you feel a need to share it or discuss it with someone? Also as a side note, I'd be very interested to discuss what someone else sees in my daughters chart, as her mom I'm sure I have some blind spots to objectivity. Sorry, couldn't help but throw that last one in... excited, remember?

Pluto & Chiron

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 03:03:02 GMT

I've been reading The book of Pluto, by Steven Forrest. He talks about Pluto's placement & aspects in the birth chart as symbolizing a deep wound. As much as his writing resonates with me, I've always thought the 'deep wound' was symbolized by Chiron's placement, and so I'm having trouble distinguishing the differences.

If it makes any sense I feel the difference, I just can't seem to substantiate it.

Xposted to chiron_friends and plutonians

Sign polarities

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 03:17:48 GMT

Hi everyone,

Recently we had some posts about sign polarities - here's an entire article about it that I wrote for my October newsletter. Check it out here.

2nd house - 8th house

Thu, 22 Sep 2005 15:02:37 GMT

can we talk about these houses from the evolutionary point of view?

the question would be about integration - looking at the two sides of the axis

if the 2nd is gathering skills and developing self worth, the 8th is ? - blanking here of it in terms of the 2nd.

thanks for any input.

Lunar Behavior

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 16:41:53 GMT

Hello Everyone,
The third poll from astrology_2 is now available. And as usual, the results of the poll will be available for everyone to dissect within a week. THE MORE THE REPLIES, THE BETTER THE RESULTS! :)

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST- A certain level of understanding about what each sign in the zodiac represents is required before you fill out this poll. If you are completely new to astrology, please go to astro.com and view your free interactive birth chart. When you click your horoscope, you will see a pop-up. The pop-up has a feature that shows "General Meaning of ____" You can look up the general meaning of each sign that way. That should start you off.

Please reply to all questions in this format:
1) a
2) b...

Take the time to answer ALL questions honestly. They are fairly straightforward. Let's begin.

1) Your Natal Moon is in:
a) Fire Sign
b) Earth
c) Water
d) Air

2) Your Natal Moon has more aspects to other planets than your Natal Sun.*
a) True
b) False

3) You feel that you exhibit more of your Moon sign qualities outwardly than your Sun sign.
a) True
b) False

4) You find that people see you behave more like your Moon sign than your Sun sign.
a) True
b) False

5) Your Natal moon is:
a) aspected to Pluto*
b) is in the first house**
c) conjunct with the Ascendant*
d) one or more of the above
e) none of the above

* = CERTAIN ASPECTS ONLY. They include- sextile, trine, square, opposition, conjunct, and inconjunct. TEN DEGREE ORB IS OK.

**= PLACIDUS HOUSE SYSTEM. If you don't know what this is, don't worry. If you use Astro.com's interactive horoscopes, then this house system is the default and what you see there is what you should reply. Other web programs will tell you what house system they are using which is usually indicated with the chart.